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Mindplay 
Handle: Mindplay
Real Name: Rasmus Schultz
Lived in: Denmark
Ex.Handles: Raster, Infernal Noise, Zest, Moonstone, Mindplays Evil Twin
Was a member of: Agima, CHiLL Productions (CHILL), Emmhead, Nexus 7, Simple, Stormtroopers

Modules: 36  online
Interview: Read!
Pictures: n/a

Interview


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          `n.          .rP'
           `qb       ,dP'
            TLb.  ,dMP'          all rite, now you get the chance to read
             TML.dMMP            some facts about some of the major amiga
          ,nmm`XXMPX              musicians. read about their history in 
       ,#MP'~~XNXYNXTb.          the scene and their plans in future.yes, 
     ,d~'     dNNP `YNTb.       that's meant to be read while listening to  
    ,~       ,NN'     `YNb   their modules. read 'em over and over and over..
             dNP        `Yb.  
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       \___P___/  .\--\__    __/__ |--\____)---\        _____/__ |--\_   \    _/
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    Handle: Mindplay

    Group: Chill

    Date of birth: 7th July 1975


  • 1-How did your interest for computers start? Which year was that?

  • It started in the mid-80s, when I was 10 or so (around '85, I think).
    A friend of mine got a C=64, and after trying it, I was immidiately
    hoooked - not just on the games (which were of course a major factor
    in my young days), but I was fascinated by this "magic box", and felt
    like I had to know how it worked ...


  • 2-What machines did you previously have? What did you do with them?

  • I had the C=64 first, which I used for games and programming in BASIC
    and Assembler, and then later to make music, using very early SID-chip
    trackers, drum machines, and notation software. I upgraded to the C=128
    to get the better programming tools - and then later to the Amiga 500,
    which reeled me in with it's amazing FOUR channels of sound. For years
    I then swore I would never upgrade to a PC, because they were expensive,
    came with a lousy OS (DOS), and were completely useless for music - until
    I discovered MT2, when I immidiately ran out and bought a PC and a Gravis
    UltraSound card, which had a full SIXTEEN channels of sound! ;)


  • 3-For what specific reason did you end up making music rather than gfx, coding?

  • actually, I've always done a little bit of both - some programming, a
    little graphics, and a lot of music. These days, I do mostly programming,
    and have been involved in the development of music software for Synapse
    Audio Software among many other things...


  • 4-Which composing programs have you been using? Which one in particular?

  • well, let's see - on the C=64, I don't really recall the names of the
    apps we used back then ... Magic Drummer, I think, was one ... anyways,
    on the Amiga, I was using trackers from their very early days - my first
    tracker on the Amiga was Master Sound Tracker v1.0 by Karsten Obarski.
    Of course later I used ProTracker like everyone else, that was probably
    the tracker I used most on the Amiga, but I used various other tracker
    variants too, like StarTrekker ... on the PC, I used FastTracker II,
    which was probably the tracker I used altogether the most - even after
    the first, much more advanced, trackers for Windows came out, I was
    still rebooting out of Windows into DOS to run FT2 for many years, until
    finally Buzz came out, and I played around with that, but never really
    got the results I wanted for some reason. Then finally moved on to
    MadTracker II, when that finally came out, and continued to use that,
    and still am - the more advanced professional piano roll sequencers
    just can't be used with a keyboard, and this will always, ALWAYS be
    faster than any mouse operated music system, and I stuck with it,
    despite the scorning and ridicule you got from studio pros ;)


  • 5-With which module did you feel you had reached your goal?

  • My goal was never anything expect to make music - for no particular
    reason, other than my fascination with, and love for, music ... so
    I would say, already in the C=64 days, I was reaching my goal, since
    I was making music. Or perhaps even before that, when I was playing
    around with reel tape and a pair of scissors ;)


  • 6-Is there a tune you would like not to remember? For what reason?

  • "Babylon Lovers" - it's still in the Chill archive, and it is by
    far some of the most terrible music I have ever made ;)


  • 7-In your opinion, what's the value of a music in a demo, game?

  • Well, in both demos, games and movies, the music can support and
    intensify the atmosphere created by the graphics and gameplay - but
    more so, the music and the game/demo/movie TOGETHER can create a
    synergetic effect, a total experience, which can not be matched by
    any single piece of music or musicless demo/game/movie :)


  • 8-At present, are you still composing? For professional or leisure purposes?

  • Sadly, no. Not really. I still play around with trackers and other music
    apps once in a while, but since about three years, I have not finished a
    tune or released anything. To this date, I have no idea why not - I seem
    to have simply lost interest, although controversially, I am sadly longing
    to make music again ... I need therapy ;)


  • 9-What do you think of today's pieces of music such as mpeg,wave,midi,etc...?

  • A peculiar question. Well, from a philosophical standpoint, I think
    music today is not better or worse than it was back then - just different.
    Of course, a lot of music from back then sounds like crap today, but it was
    just remarkable at the time (if not more!), as the music of today is now.


  • 10-Could you tell us some of your all times favourite tunes?

  • The theme from Commando (a game) on the C=64 forever lingers in my mind,
    both the ingame music and the highscore tune - Rob Hubbard has been one
    of my great inspirations, and his music is still remarkable and amazing,
    although the sound quality by todays standard is of course appalling.
    Music by Kraftwerk will stay with me for the rest of my life too - they
    were after all the forefathers of the electronic music I was raised with,
    ever since I first heard "Autobahn" and "Kometenmelodie" when I was six.
    Those are definitely my two all-time greatest influences, both because
    the sound was revolutionary, but also because I was young, and first
    impressions just last :)


  • 11-Are you planning to make an audio cd with some of your music remastered?

  • Some of my Amiga music has been remastered for CD, but mostly in a fun
    attempt to see if I could update it to sound the way we REMEMBERED it -
    I couldn't of course, and this will never be released ... it's better
    off as it were, as a memory - there's no need to dig up the past and
    try to relive it, better we focus on the future :)


  • 12-What bands are you currently listenning to?

  • well, to mention some very different stuff: Zero-7, Kruder & Dorfmeister,
    Portishead, Dzihan & Kamien, Tom Jones (no shit), Akufen, Amon Tobin,
    DJ Food, Dilated Peoples, Jaylib, Scape, Röyksopp, Mr. Lif, Vadim,
    Puddu Varano, Silent Poets, St. Germain, Tom Waits, and the one and only
    true hip hop band of Denmark: Malk De Koijn.


  • 13-What does/did the amiga/c64 scene give you?

  • An experience for life.


  • 14-Are you still active in the scene these days?

  • still a member of Chill, but not "active" in the scene as such, no ;)


  • 15-Anyone to greet? Anything left to say? Feel free...

  • peace! ... it's not just a word - actually think about it for a
    minute, and you'll help make the world a little less insane today!


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    please note: this interview is ©opyrighted in 2005 by crown of cryptoburners
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